Kid Icarus: Picking Up The Fallen
by Angel of Nerdiness
Summary: Palutena sends Dark Pit to investigate a dying demon in a forest, but what the Dark angel finds is a holy being infected by a series of horrible events. WARNING: Slight mentions of blood.
1. Prologue: The Figure in The Dark

**A/N: This is an idea I've had for a short while now, and one I'm finally beginning to figure out enough to the point of actually putting together chapters. This will be different from my other KI works (less lovey-dovey essentially XD) and is also introducing my first OC on this site. Enjoy.**

Dark Skies. Rain. Thunder. Lightning. Screaming. It was the normal beginning to a horrible tale.

On the outskirts of a large village was a dense forest of rather unsightly trees and weak, damp soil. The kind of forest that could turn into a swamp with the right amount of rain that just so happened to be falling this night.

A figure was moving frantically to this swamp forest, desperately darting through the one-hundred or so yards separating the village and forest. If there was no rain or booming thunder, one could hear this figure panting and wheezing, sounding like their lungs were about tho fail. But over the sounds of the grim weather, anyone within a mile or so could hear the group of villagers cursing and yelling as they ran after the figure.

"Demon! Wretch! Abomination to all that is holy!"

"Kill it before it spreads its plagues and foulness across the entire world!"

"May Palutena herself hear our pleas to remove this underworld scum from our land!"

The figure just kept moving, it needed to reach the safety of the forest, to be concealed and hidden among the darkened bark and shadow covered area.

Then, the figure was hit, a spear was thrown and lodged into the shoulder, blood trickled down its arm. It screamed and fell, but kept moving, albeit slower. The distance between the mob and the figure lessened, but not enough for them to reach it before it escaped into the forest.

The rain poured harder, and the thunder shook the ground.

"This storm is a sign, a sign that we must end this tonight! Burn the forest and the demon who now rests in it!" One rather burly man yelled upon the crowd reaching the swamp.

"No! We mustn't risk the fire spreading to the village." Another man spoke up. "After the beating we gave it back in the village, there's no way that thing will last through the night. Let the best die and the heavenly power of our Gods take care of the rest."

There were quick murmurs among the group before they decided to leave the figure to its own death and return to their dry, warm homes.

…

The figure was crawling now, and whimpering too, it was covered in mud and dirt, which would only make the now bleeding stab wound on its shoulder worse by morning, if it lived that long.

The crawling slowed down and then the figure stopped, in a patch where the trees didn't reach and the storm could clearly be seen above. The figure rolled onto its back and sprawled its weakened body out. This was it. The end wouldn't be long now.

As a form of sleep began to take over the being, she shut her eyes and let out a frail breath.

"Why….Why me?"

 **A/N: Sorry for keeping things so obviously secret about just who this character is or why all of this is happening to her, but all will be revealed in time (I also hope I'm not already falling into stereotypical OC stuff lol). Reviews, Criticisms, and Advice is always welcome! See you guys in the next chapter. Gotta Fly!**


	2. Chapter 1: The Prayers to Palutena

**A/N: I really can't wait to actually introduce my OC so I can stop hiding every bit of information about...it (I'm not even revealing the gender yet haha).**

 **Enjoy!**

The clear morning skies always seemed prettier than normal when being preceded by a storm, Palutena thought as she walked across a bridge between the upper levels of her temple, staring out at the shimmering pink and gold skies dashed with purple clouds.

On mornings like this, The Goddess of Light would always recall the day after the war ended. It was like crawling up from the deepest chasm into a blinding light of freedom and peace, narrowly escaping a dark, lonely death. She held strong to the idea that these peaceful days would continue as they have for the past few years. She sighed happily.

The Goddess continued onward at a quicker pace to her thrown room. She checked in on the humans daily through her cauldron to make sure nothing was wrong. Palutena partly hated the constant checking on the little things, as they seem to always wish for war or conflicts; she felt it be centuries before they learned better. But at the same time, she would never be able to live with herself if she were to let the Underworld or any major threat harm them. She cared more for humans than any other God, even if it wasn't by a large amount.

Two centurion guards saluted her as she entered the doorway, she nodded at them smiling. "Good day, Lady Palutena." One of them said. "Is there anything you require of us?"

"No, no." Palutena waved her hand, dismissing the offer. "I''m simply checking on the humans. No need for anything extra." She walked on and heard the guards armor clank as they shifted back into place as the door shut.

"Dare I ask for a meal or drink from those clumsy centurions, I can only trust Pit to be able to carry something of any importance through the temple without breaking it." Palutena thought.

Sitting softly at her throne, she waved her right hand, and small sparkles emitted from her fingertips, causing a large white and gold cauldron to appear in front of her. She stared inward watching as a cloudy liquid began appearing within the cauldron, filling it up quickly. When full, it looked as though gray rain clouds were trapped within the large bowl.

"Hmm." Palutena muttered in slight worry, taking the gray clouds as a bad omen. Normally, the clouds that appeared in the cauldron were white, and only in times where demons were present were they black as night. But they were neither fully white or black. Curious.

Wishing to investigate further, Palutena shut her eyes and held out one of her hands. There was silence as she simply stood still with her arm outstretched, then in a small burst of white light, a small potion popped in and landed softly in her hand.

"Ah, yes. Here we go." She looked at the label of the potion and nodded. "'Reaper's Eye'".

Despite it's rather morbid name, Reaper's Eye was a common name for a potion used to track dark or dying souls, much like a grim reaper would.

She turned the small bottle to the bottle and popped of the lid. Pink liquid dripped from it and began to pierce through the clouds in the cauldron.

"There we go. Now let's see what's happening down there." Palutena cast aside the now empty potion and peered into the self mixing cauldron.

The clouds began to separate and fade away, which revealed a wavy, slightly blurred image amongst the small waves of the cauldron. Firstly she saw dirty, vine covered trees sitting in a vat of mud. A swamp, Palutena thought.

Then, as the waves slowed and the picture cleared, The Goddess saw a figure, a human, or humanoid figure laying in the vat, face up from what could be seen. The mud and muck nearly covered its body completely, so Palutena couldn't tell much about who or what it was beyond a basic humanoid form.

But a lingering question remained: Why did the cauldron want to show her this? And why such mixed messages on the omen from the clouds. It was curiously vague to Palutena, and she needed to find a way to get answers.

That's when they hit her. The prayers. She felt the prayers and heard the voices of a nearby church in a small village. They were directed to her and it was her duty to receive them. She crossed her fingers hoping these messages from the humans could give some insight into this curious situation.

Palutena focused on the voice of the priest mainly to hear clearly, knowing that he would send her what the entire village thought or wanted.

"Oh, almighty Goddess Palutena. Hear us please! A demon, a wretch has crawled up from the depths of the Underworld and into our village. We drove it out, perhaps to its death in the woods. But we are unsure and afraid for the lives of the pure souls that live in this village. Even worse, the demon attempted to disguise itself as an angel, but its marks of evil could be seen plain as day. We beg of you to hear our prayers and send your angels to remove it from our land."

Now Palutena was afraid. "A demon, masquerading as an angel? This is a dangerous situation if it's true. I need to send someone down there."

The Goddess began pacing worriedly around her throne room. "I can't send Pit, he's away at Viridi's for the weekend. And sending a centurion would just end with them getting lost in the woods. Who can I send who I can trust will take it seriously?" She racked her brain for an answer, then smiled and snapped her fingers.

"Of course. How could I forget the commando of emo?" She chuckled lightly before grabbing her staff and running off to find Dark Pit.

 **A/N: I really liked this chapter as I was able to enter the mind of Palutena a bit and show her connection to humans (listening to their prayers and acting upon them). The next chapter will bring Dark Pit into the story and finally give a name and look to my OC (sorry for all the probably unnecessary buildup lol).**

 **See you next time chapter, guys. As always, reviews are welcome.**

 **Gotta Fly!**


	3. Chapter 2: Swampy Discovery

**A/N: I honestly don't know how much I like this chapter. I was still figuring out how the second half of the story (and the sort of origin for my OC) was going to play out while writing this. I always feel like I lack detail and its especially strong here. Hope you guys like it anyway even if I'm no 100% on it.**

 **Enjoy!**

"So, I'm looking for a swamp demon disguised as an angel, right?" Dark Pit spoke aloud as he was flown across the skies heading to the apparent location of the demon. Everything about Dark Pit's appearance showed he was rudely awoken and hastily dressed. His eyes were slightly baggy and his gaze took in what was around him with even less interest than normal.  
His darkened tunic fared better as the numerous folds and creases were hidden by the black color, while his jet black hair was shaggy and flailing all over. If this were a more public appearance, Palutena would've certainly held back the angel from being seen by any human eye until he looked presentable. But The Goddess felt that this curious issue should be tackled immediately, so she simply dragged the dark angel out of bed and sent him on his way (well, after a good ten minutes of listening to Dark Pit complain).

"I'm not sure what kind of demon it is, honestly." Palutena replied through the angel's laurel crown. "I'm not even sure it's a demon I'm sending you to."

"What?" Dark Pit gritted his teeth in annoyance. "I thought you were an all seeing entity or whatever. I'm not wasting my time on something even you don't know about." He crossed his arms as he flew closer to the ground.

Back in her temple, Palutena crossed her own arms and smirked. "Firstly: We both know you have nothing else to do. And secondly: if I don't know what it is, it could be a new threat with powers beyond our wildest imagi-"

"Ok. Got it. Don't need an entire monologue." Dark Pit murmured, weaving his way through some scattered trees as the village and woods appeared on the horizon. He flapped his wings and landed softly, groaning disused at having to walk through a muddy swamp with sandals. "This is gonna suck." He thought to himself.

Palutena watched through her cauldron as he walked further into the swamp. She directed him slightly when she sensed the odd force getting dimmer. As the angel got closer and closer, she clenched her throne in an odd mix of excitement and fear. She hated not knowing, especially about a possible threat to her people or the humans. She's come too close to loss too much in the last few years and she had longed that after the war everything would calm down. This was the moment she would find out if there was a new evil to fight back or a new villain questing for domination.

Meanwhile, Dark Pit was thinking about grabbing a snack before going back to bed when he got back from the mission.

Stepping over a large tree root, Dark Pit froze and his eyes widened for a moment as he saw a figure in the mud. He reached for his bow and aimed, his instincts kicking in. "I found it."

"Yes. I see it." Palutena said in a serious tone. "It hasn't moved since I last saw it. Be careful, but don't fire yet. Try and get closer and see who or what it is."

Dark Pit lowered his bow and inched closer like a hunter towards a sleeping lion. He winced the tiniest bit at his feet sliding through the mud but kept his eyes locked on the figure. He reached a hand out and was ready to turn it around, when the figure shuffled among-st the mud. He jumped back and aimed his bow. "Stay back! I'm armed!" The dark angel tried his best to sound intimidating in his tiered state.

"W-Wha?" The voice was female, and very weak by the sound of it. Dark Pit wasn't expecting a girl, but that didn't move his aim in the slightest. Boy or girl, demons are demons.

The girl began to slowly sit up; Dark Pit could barely make out some pale skin and what looked to be light blue hair underneath the layers of muck and dirt. But what finally did make him lower his bow and cause his jaw to drop was seeing what was on her back: angel wings. Even covered completely in mud they seemed genuine.

As Dark Pit lowered his bow further, the girl took notice of him and yipped in fear. "AHH! NO!" She stood up and began running, but simply slipped in the mud and fell on her face.

"PLEASE! DON'T HURT ME! Please! Have mercy!" The girl was sobbing loudly now, her face buried in her hands as she sat in the mud. Dark Pit was certainly shocked at this behavior, and it was the mixture of her pleads and what he could see of her clean self that allowed his guard to be fully dropped. He leaned his bow against a nearby tree before walking closer, hands raised to show his lack of weapons.

"What are you doing?" Palutena yelled through his crown, "I said 'be careful', not 'drop your weapons'. She could be tricking you, Pitoo!"

The angel was ignoring Palutena completely, getting the complete opposite vibe around this supposed demon than he expected. Besides, he was sure no demon would ever plead for their life to be spared, even if it was an act.

"Hey." He yelled as softly as he could to get her attention. "Look, I'm unarmed. As in no weapons. So could you stop crying?…. Please?"

As she looked once again at Dark Pit, her cries lowered to light snobs and sniffles. Her face also swayed to the side slightly, as if she was really looking at Dark Pit for the first time; her face was a mixture of confusion and fear looking at the angel.

Dark Pit may have had no weapon, but he kept a stern enough face on her. He thought to himself how hard it was to look intimidating without trying to come of as such completely. "I won't hurt you if you answer me some questions."

She just stared for a second with wide eyes before uncovering a rock she had found among the mud. Dark Pit jumped as she threw the stone, directly hitting his laurel crown off and sending it right into the mud.

"Pitoo?!" The angel faintly heard Palutena scream as the crown fell into the swamp. He tried to back up to his bow but quickly found himself being tackled by the girl. In any other situation, Dark Pit would've believed this to be a demon and have mentally punished himself for being as foolish as Pit. But even now he still felt..unsure. A demon would've done much more than tackle to the ground; bite, claw, engulf in flames, but not simply hold him down.

"Your one of his….aren't you?" She asked, her tone was terrified and her breathing was raspy. "Your going to take me back because everything is fixed now, huh?" Now she grabbed at Dark Pit's tunic weakly and tried to hoist his face against hers. "I won't let…let you….take….me-".

She fell unconscious. Right on top of Dark Pit.

"Oh great." He muttered.

Proceeding to stick a hand into the mud and search for his laurel crown, he pulled out the now mud brown metal crown, wiped it as much as he could before placing it on his head again.

"Pitoo? Pitoo? Are you there?! Please, say something!" Palutena was screaming so loud, Dark Pit had to take off the crown again to stop the ringing in his ears.

"I'M FINE!" Dark Pit yelled into the crown before popping it back on his head.

There was a second of silence before The Goddess of Light responded, "Well, you didn't have to shout."

"Whoever this girl is, she sorta passed out on top of me." Dark Pit said, trying to slip his way out from under the girl. "Any clearer image now that she's at leas not completely in mud?"

"No." Palutena replied. "The image in my cauldron went cloudy again, and no matter how much potion I use, it's not clearing up. This is starting to feel more and more deliberate to me."

"I'm not sure." Dark Pit replied, looking again at the girl passed out on top of him. "But just in case, warp us both back to the temple: we can question her when she wakes up and we can clean up." The angel flicked a clump of muck of his hand with a audible "yuck".

"Alright." Palutena responded. Dark Pit looked around as a calm, warm light formed around him and the mystery girl. He blinked, felt a rush of wind, and was now laying outside of Palutenas Temple, where The Goddess of Light was waiting.

"Wow Pitoo, have you ever heard of keeping a uniform clean at the workplace?"


	4. Chapter 3: Ashley The Angel

**A/N: THIS STORY LIVES! IT LIVES! I finally finished this chapter after outside distractions and a small period of time where I lost interest in the story (thankfully, it came back for this chapter).**

 **Enjoy!**

Palutena and Dark Pit were walking through the temple now, with three hulking centurions following behind them, one carrying the unconscious, mud covered girl.

"So what now?" Dark Pit asked as he wiped his face and hair with a towel given to him by a centurion.

"Now we figure out just who and what this girl is." Palutena replied sternly. "She shows up out of nowhere, spreads fear through a village, she fogs up my cauldron, and apparently she's an angel. There's too many questions that need answering.

Shaking the towel across his hair, Dark Pit turned back to look at the sleeping face of the girl. He still seemed to feel something….off about looking at her. "Based on my encounter, getting clear answers may be harder than we think."

"Speaking of your encounter with her, can I ask what you were thinking? You threw down your weapon and let her tackle you, care to explain that?" The Goddess of Light asked mixing tones of confusion and sternness in her voice.

Dark Pit zoned out for a minute looking for an answer, and all he could think is that something about her made him not want to attack. Some hunch, or perhaps an urge to hold back. "I couldn't give a decent explanation. I just….held back for whatever reason."

Palutena smirked. "Don't tell me your going soft on me, Pitoo? Or is it just because under the mud is a pretty face?"

Dark Pit whipped his towel around his neck, allowing it to rest on his shoulder, and angrily blushed. "Shut up. And don't even consider I'm going soft unless you want me to prove it." The angel raised the blade of his bow as if to show Palutena he wasn't afraid of doing so. Palutena simply chuckled in response. "Clean up some more before we interrogate her ok?"

—:—

Walking into a small dining area turned interrogation area, Palutena and a cleaned up Dark Pit each took a seat beside each other on one side of the cleared table, on the other was the winged creature with two centurions on either side. She was awake now, and silent, staring at the ground. The mud and muck was now dried onto her body, clothes, hair, and wings; she was certainly not a sight to behold.

Palutena looked at the creature further, and even she had to admit Dark Pit had a point, something about her seemed off, nothing outright said she was a demon or any product of the Underworld, perhaps she was just an angel? Then why did humans drive her away, calling her a demon. So many questions hopefully will be answered.

"Are you comfortable?" Palutena asked calmly, her voice serious and with a tone fitting her Goddess title.

The angel lowered her head a little and shuffled. Dark Pit turned to Palutena, "She clearly spoke english when she had me pinned down in the swamp, wonder what's keeping her quiet now?" Dark Pit spoke with a growing sense of suspicion in his voice.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, until a low whisper could be heard across the table.

"…I'm sorry." The girl spoke up, sobbing, "I'm so sorry."

Palutena and Dark Pit stared in surprise at the sobbing girl, both silent as the sobbing grew louder.

"I….I didn't mean to hurt you." She looked up at Dark Pit, her violet eyes showing only innocence behind them. "I…don't know what came over me."

"Who are you? And can you tell me why you clouded the vision from my cauldron?"

The girl's eyes shifted in surprise, as if she just realized Palutena was there, only for her to jump from her seat in shock. The centurions tried to grab her but before they knew it, the girl was kneeling on the floor like a butler. "Oh my Goddess'! Lady Palutena! I-I-I-I di-didn't notice you! Please forgive me, I-I-I, um, I-"

Everyone else in the room was taken aback by this act. Palutena and Dark Pit looked at each other, neither knowing what to think. "Um, you don't have to apologize." Palutena stated. "I would just like to know who you are."

The girl looked up, tears flowing through her mud covered face, "M-M-My name's….Ashley."

"Well, Ashley, you are quite a mystery. You were run out of a village by humans yet you worry about being in my presence." Dark Pit rolled his eyes as Palutena let her ego out for a split second as she held her head high.

Ashley fell to her knees completely, "The humans drove me out because of my…..my wings."

Dark Pit shot her a curious look, "Your wings?"

"Clean them off a bit, you'll see." Ashley shut her eyes and lowered her head again.

Palutena turned to the centurions and nodded, indicating for them to clean her wings. One centurion brought out a wet towel and began to wipe the mud of Ashley's right wing.

After only a few wipes, the centurion stopped in shock and everyone else in the room gasped. From what was cleaned off, it could be seen clear as day a large stain like black spot covering a section of Ashley's wings. Palutena stood up and moved closer to Ashley, looking closely at her wings.

"That's not natural. What happened to you?"

"I….I can't remember. All I remember was waking up in a field, and, well…..my wings were stained black in certain spots."

Dark Pit walked up now, and saw the color of her stained wings matched the color of his own wings. He frowned a little. "And….you can't remember anything else?"

Ashley shook her head. "I swear I'm not lying, I can't remember much of anything of what's happened to me. After I woke up, I made my way to the village, and everyone ran me out when I tried to ask for help." Tears filled Ashley's again. "They…they called me a demon."

Palutena's mind was racing. Ashley's wings were clearly mysterious, but she didn't seem like someone who would intentionally harm Sky-world.

"Centurions, please clean Ashley up. I need to talk to Pitoo."

"Dark Pit." The dark angel gritted through his teeth. Palutena rolled her eyes and grabbed Dark Pit by his wing, pulling him out the door.

"Whoa! Whoa! Hey! Hands off my wings!" Dark Pit yelled, fire igniting in his eyes for a split second.

Palutena only shot Dark Pit a look that said, "stop worrying about your personal space issues". "Listen, I need a second opinion on Ashley, because for one of the only times in my life, I'm not sure where to go from here."

Dark Pit quickly glanced back in at the angel, getting back in her seat and wiping her face with another towel bought by the centurions.

"I couldn't tell ya." The Dark Angel responded, crossing his arms. "The black and white wings were certainly a surprise that screams "Underworld" but, otherwise…she seems ok."

Palutena leant on a wall, rubbing her forehead stressfully, "She seems to have a form of amnesia, _how original,_ " Palutena ended her statement angrily looking upward, as if someone above her was to blame. "I mean, for all we do know, she could've been a victim. She doesn't seem all that evil, looking into her eyes made me feel bad for her more than anything. No Underworld creature or demon could ever make me of all Gods feel that way."

Dark Pit was silent, but nodded in agreement.

Palutena zoned out for a moment, thinking, "Well, so long as we keep her at close guard until we figure out just who or what Ashley is, just in case, she can stay here."

Dark Pit looked back into the room again as Ashley wiped her hair, revealing the rest of her beautiful sky blue hair. Dark Pit blushed a little and turned back, recovering his uncaring demeanor quickly. "Sure. Whatever you say."

The Goddess of Light turned to Dark Pit, with a shocked expression, "Wait, you just agreed with me? That easily?….Pitoo, this day has already been weird enough, don't do that."

Dark Pit chuckled under his breath, "Hey, I just think she should stay until we figure stuff out. It's a rarity but yes, I'm agreeing with you. Don't expect it too much."

Palutena smiled softly before walking back inside. "I saw you blush at her, by the way." The Goddess whispered into the dark angel's laurel crown. The result was an intense mix of anger and blush covering Dark Pit's face.

—:—

Night fell over Palutena's temple, and Ashley was lead by Dark Pit and a centurion to her bedroom. The Goddess of Light gave the black and white winged angel a change of clothes from a tunic to some a sleeping gown. The whole journey the newcomer was quiet and moving awkwardly. These last few days were rattling in her mind, trying to make sense of everything herself. Last night she passed out in a swamp, now she was staying at Lady Palutena's own temple, this all seemed like a dream. But it was real, and somehow that worried her further. She didn't know what to do or say, she didn't remember much of herself but Ashley found out she was very shy over the last afternoon, as Palutena laying out her new living conditions and her introduction to the legendary Lady Viridi and Commander Pit themselves were met only with the young angel girl mumbling small sentences.

Ashley took a deep breath as Dark Pit stopped at a doorway.

"Here you go. Palutena said she'll help you change the room to your liken later. but everything's laid out for you, and the beds here are super comfy so you'll have no trouble sleeping."

"Th-Th-Thank…..you." Ashley said, lowering her gaze, blushing in shyness. Dark Pit's cheeks seemed to have a mind of their own as no matter how much he held back, the Dark Angel couldn't help but blush a little too. He hit himself on the head and mentally scolded himself.

" _Ahem,_ Well, goodnight." Dark Pit said trying to regain composure as he opened the door to Ashley's new room. Ashley looked inside and couldn't help but smile at the sight of such a big, soft bed.

"Welcome to the temple, Ashley." Dark Pit murmured, hoping he wasn't sounding stupid.

Ashley looked at him with her violet eyes once again and hid her face in her blush, "T-Thanks. G-G-Goodnight." Ashley ran inside and shut the door quickly.

Dark Pit told the Centurion to stand guard for the night, which the brute angel agreed to with no hesitation, and Dark Pit went off to bed, trying to hide his returning blush.

—:—

Ashley plopped onto her bed, and giggled a little in pleasure feeling the cloud like comforter and blankets.

"This is all so weird. But hopefully, it can all work out, and my luck can turn. They all seem so nice, despite me being…..me." She looked at her wings sadly, taking a deep breath.

Going under the covers, Ashley felt so warm and secure. She sighed happily and gave her thanks to the Gods before falling asleep.

Unaware of what her forgotten past will one day do to Skyworld.

 **A/N: Talk about a cliffhanger haha. I hope everyone likes what they do know of Ashley so far, because you'll be seeing a lot more of her now. I'm going to sort of/kind of put this story on hiatus to instead add another series of stories showcasing Ashley's first few months in Palutenas Temple, showing off more of her personality and interactions with other characters. This new series will take place between chapter three and four of this story, and I might keep doing those stories whenever I decide to pick up this story again.**

 **...I hope everyone understood that whole paragraph of info I just typed.**

 **Anyways, I'll see you guys in the next story!**

 **Gotta Fly!**


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